I'll Be Here No Matter What
by Akane Naomi
Summary: Sequel to I'll Be Waiting No Matter What: The foursome are now entering the school year together in Twilight Town!
1. Chapter 1

_**I'll Be Here No Matter What**_

"Ah, I haven't been back in Twilight Town in such a long time." Namine grinned while walking with the other three around the school. "I wonder what I've missed out…"

Speak of the devil, out of nowhere, they heard crowds of both boys and girls running out towards them. "It's Namine-sama and Roxas-sama!" they exclaimed.

"Uh oh, fan clubs?" Sora guessed before the others nodded and began running off around the school campus and decided to hide into the guys' dorm room.

They all paused to catch their breaths and sighed in relief that they were safe for now. "Why didn't you two tell us about…" the redhead coughed. "them?"

"W-Well I forgot all about them." Namine tried to explain and leaned against the wall to rest. "Besides, this is the first time I actually ran away from them." she giggled at the idea.

Sora laughed about that last line also. "Yeah, and what was with the Namine and Roxas sama? Are you guys aristocrats or something?" When he heard that he was the only one laughing, he stared at them immediately. "W-Wait…you guys aren't… are you?"

"Sorry to ruin your fun Sora." Roxas chuckled and sighed. "But it's true, the two of us are what you could call the important students in school."

The redhead was at loss for words, only the expression on her face could show how she was feeling at that moment. "And you didn't tell me Namine?!" she exclaimed wanting to shake her friend back and forth for not telling her, but kept it in.

"Sorry." she gave an apologetic smile. Pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear, she kept quiet thinking of what else to say.

"Can we see your house?"

Kairi elbowed Sora on the head. "Idiot."

"Sure! I don't mind." the blond girl nodded.

……………

"Um… this is my house." she timidly announced pointing to the opening in front of them. It took a while to get there because of the rabid fan club that was still on the rage on searching for the two, and to avoid meeting their town friends.

"You live in…" Sora began, pointing to the wall. "In a hole?"

"No you idiot." Kairi glared again following after Namine and Roxas. "She means her place is through the hole." and yet she was correct, walking through the forest, they could see the gates, Namine had been talking about. "Namine, I think your place should be called a "mansion." as they gazed at the large white mansion in front of them.

"Anyways…" she interrupted turning back. "Now that we've seen where I live, let's head back to the Market Street." as she motioned the others to follow after her.

"Already?" Sora whined as a sound was coming from his stomach. "But I'm starving!" he complained again.

"They have sea salt ice cream."

…………….

"You know, you didn't have to tell them about our status here." Roxas muttered quietly so the other two wouldn't hear. "I was surprised you wanted to show them where you lived."

She shrugged. "I really didn't mind, I mean, I didn't want to make such a big deal about it."

"But…you don't like facing your parents…" he reminded her, and saw her smile drop to an expressionless face. "Uh, forget about bringing the topic up."

"I'd like that." she admitted. Now it was quiet between them, a little too quiet. Turning back expecting to see the two behind them, they were surprised to see that there were gone. "Did they go to get more Sea Salt Ice Cream?"

….

"Wow! I didn't know our school had a cherry blossom garden out here!" the redhead stared in amazement, walked up and down the many asiles of the pink trees. "This would be a perfect place to go to when I'm feeling down."

Sora observed the falling pink petals and caught one in his hand. "Really? You would come here all alone?"

She hesitated to answer to that question. "Well… maybe not really." she laughed. "But… I mean who would I go to when I'm in trouble? What if I need help and no one's there to guide me?"

"Then I'll be here." he interrupted.

"Huh?" she questioned looking over at his direction. He didn't look at her, but instead at the petals around them. He didn't seem to be joking around at all.

"I said… " he began to repeat slowly. "I'll be here. I'll be here no matter what." walking over to her, he held out his pinky finger. "I'll promise you that."

"He's acting a little strange…" she noticed but decided it was nothing and shook the pinky promise together. "Then it's a deal." she stated with a reassuring smile.

….

"Yo Seifer, what're ya gonna do?"

The older blond stared at one of his friends. "About Namine?" and sighed resting his head on his hand. "Well I lost." he admitted which was something he usually hated doing. "But at least it was to that punk."

"Punk?" Rai asked in confusion.

Fuu nudged him. "Roxas."

"Who cares?" Seifer said and tried to think of other girls he had met. Most of the girls at the school weren't the kind he was interested in dating, except her. Well… "that redhead" he remembered today when he saw the foursome group being chased by the fan clubs. "I'll go after her instead."

"Who?"

He looked away imagining her face again and chuckled at the dumb question. "Kairi of course."


	2. Chapter 2

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* * *

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I'll Be Here No Matter What

"Hey you okay? Allergies?" Sora asked the redhead after hearing her sneeze out of nowhere.

She laughed lightly and shook her head no. "No it's not allergies for sure. I mean, that wouldn't be fun if I was allergic to cherry blossoms."

"Yeah, you're right. Maybe Namine or Roxas was talking about you." He laughed while pausing to see her surprised expression. "Kairi, I was kidding."

She was only surprised because it could've been true. They "did" leave the other two without knowing, thanks to her distraction. Wait, but if Namine and Roxas were wondering where they were, why was she the only one to react to it? Argh, this wasn't the time to think about people talking about other people! It was just a stupid superstition. Right?

"Uh…Kai, you alright?" The boy questioned worriedly, waving his hand in front of her face. He had already waited a couple of seconds and she was still quiet. This wasn't…a silent treatment right?

Kairi blinked as she was suddenly brought back to reality. "Oh Sora! Sorry, what did you say?"

He sighed in relief. At least she was back to normal, from whatever it was. "Never mind that, we should head back before our friends worry that something happened to us."

……

"So?" Namine began.

Now it was Kairi's turn to react. "So?"

"So?" Repeated Roxas.

"So what?!" Sora exclaimed in confusion.

"Sora, relax, no need to yell in the dormitory."

"Well Roxas, maybe it would've been easier to say what you're trying to say rather than just saying "so" out of nowhere."

The two blonds turned to each other before smiling back at their friends. "Out of nowhere?" Namine asked before giggling, "you guys were the ones that left us out of "nowhere."

Shoot. They had forgotten that part. Or more like wanted to forget about that part.

"Well nothing happened if you were wondering." The redhead spoke up. "You guys didn't tell me that there was a cherry blossom garden on school campus. I got distracted and didn't realize that Sora followed me."

"Hm, I guess that's a good excuse. That'll pass." Roxas nodded in agreement.

"It's true!"

"Now now, let's not waste our energy all evening." Namine interrupted. She stood up from where she was sitting and motioned at the door. "We might as well go back to our dorm before it gets dark out, plus…don't forget we have school."

"Geez, ruin all the fun Namine." Sora mumbled. But he knew well that she was telling the truth. They wouldn't want to make a bad first impression on the first day of school. "Well whatever! See you guys tomorrow then."

……

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Be-crash!_

"I'm awake…" Kairi muttered, slamming her hand onto the annoying how-dare-it-wake-me-up device. She rubbed her eyes to get herself out of the sleep stage. "Hm…now where am I?" she thought, gazing at her surroundings at an unfamiliar room. It was definitely not her room for sure. Then it hit her. Well more like the pillow that was thrown at her direction.

"It's about time you're awake." Her blond friend grinned, already dressed in her uniform. "I have a student council meeting early in the morning, so I'll see you if you're in any of my classes. See ya!" She gave a quick wave and took the chance to run out the door, leaving her behind.

"Some friend she is." She wanted to say, but instead kept the idea in mind. At least she woke up early. After getting dressed and ready, a sudden knock on the door surprised her.

"Hey Kairi, guess what?" The girl smiled, already letting herself in. She grabbed her hands and began dancing around in a circle. "I got our schedules, and you're in my homeroom! Isn't that exciting?!"

"Morning to you too Selphie." The redhead laughed as the girl continued dragging her around in circles.

"And to think I let Selphie eat Frosted Flakes cereal on the first day of school." Chuckled another girl.

"Frosted Flakes are great!" Selphie exclaimed as she accidentally let go of Kairi. "Ack! Kai you okay?"

Luckily for them, she fell on the floor. "Yeah, I'm alright. Just tone down a little…"

……

"I told Sora that I had an early meeting today."

Namine paused and gazed over at Roxas. "Really? I told Kairi the same thing and ran out of the room before she could interrogate me."

"At least you had it easy. Sora refused to let me leave until I threw him a box of pocky." He sighed tiredly. That moment was still replaying in his mind. "You have to admit, it is pretty funny now that you mention it."

She smiled. "You know, I'm glad we're friends with dorks like them."

"Wow, what's all this gratitude attitude coming from?"

She just shrugged her shoulders. "No reason. I just remembered. I mean, if it weren't for them," and started counting the reason with her fingers, "we wouldn't be together or talking to each other, I would've been the same, quiet, artistic Namine, you'd be skating around with Hayner, and you would probably spend your mornings sleeping in."

"You're right about that…" He admitted, and chuckled. "And yeah, I'd definitely be sleeping in right now."

"Plus, you'd be picking fights with Seifer and his gang." She added.

He held a finger up to correct her. "Correction. Seifer and his gang always picked fights with either me or Hayner. Speaking of Seifer, I haven't seen him around since we got here."

"Roxas!"

"Speak of the devil…" They both though in unison.

"Do I still have time to take back what I said?" Roxas joked.

Namine gave him a reassuring smile and held his hand. "Just listen to what he has to say. Don't worry, I'll be right here anyways."

"Me? Wow Namine, can you imagine what my reputation here would be like if everyone heard that I needed to be saved by a girl?" He asked sarcastically, but patted her head. "Don't worry so much."

"Listen Roxas…I…" Seifer began, trying to figure out how to put this into words. He wasn't much of the gentle personality type. "I…I…uh…I admit defeat."

"Huh?"

"Look, if you make Namine cry, I swear I'll beat you to pulp until you see the twilight!" He spat out.

Roxas stood there frozen to his spot. This was…unexpected from Seifer. "I'll be sure not to let that happen." He said with confidence. "I wouldn't give Namine up to anyone."

"You better not." Seifer glared.

Namine knew this was a situation between the two, but she couldn't help but question about his odd personality. "I'm glad we're getting along, but what's with the sudden change of heart?"

He stopped in surprise from her comment. "I admit I liked Namine…but I would rather see her being genuinely happy with someone, even if it's my rival." He eyed Roxas as he mentioned the word rival. "Besides, I'm starting to like someone else now."

"That's really sweet of you Seifer," The blond girl admitted and gave him a hug. "thank you for understanding."

His face was slight pink from the action he received. "Whatever, I have to get going."

"Seifer!" Roxas called out, making him turn back. "Good luck with your new love."

He was silent, but gave a small smile that was noticeable to the two. "Thanks."

They watched him go back to his group, before going back towards the school building. "Well, isn't that a nice way to start off the school year?" Namine asked cheerfully.

"Yeah…a "little" weird I have to admit, but I'd be nice to know who this newfound love is."

"Eh? Why didn't you ask him when you had the chance?"

He shrugged. "I was. Though, the look on his face made it seem like he wasn't ready on telling anyone. Besides, I'm sure he went through enough torture confessing to us just now."

……

"It's so difficult to find my classes when I lost the others…" Kairi mumbled as she compared her schedule to the map of the school. The school was bigger than she had thought. It had thirteen buildings, each with four levels or higher. "This is so complicated!" She sighed. "Where's Sora where you need him?"

"Need help?"

She jumped at the unfamiliar voice behind her. "N-No, that's alright."

The boy refused to let that pass as he let himself sit beside her. "It's easier if you use the underground corridors to get to your classes rather than run back and forth to numerous buildings."

And he was right. Some of the underground corridors lead directly to the classes she need to go. Way to go Kairi, your observation skills still need improvement. "T-Thanks…" When did she have a stuttering problem?

"Are you nervous?"

"N-No…n-not really." She said shaking her head no, but he was right. He was, and she couldn't figure out why. What she needed now was a friend of hers to pop out and save her. This guy was already freaking her out.

"Well, maybe it's easier if I introduce myself. I'm Seifer." The blond announced casually, holding his hand out to her.

Slowly turning towards him, she steadily took out her hand and shook it. "…Kairi…"

"Kairi? That's a pretty name." He commented, "So I'm guessing you're new here since I haven't seen you around."

"Um…yeah. I'm from Destiny Islands, that's why." She explained.

"Destiny Islands? Wow, that's like a tourist spot everyone goes to on break. It's so pretty over there," and he eyed her, "especially when girls like you are around."

Her face turned bright pink. Great, he was a pick up artist and she was reacting the way he wanted her to. "Um…uh…." She couldn't find the right words to that.

His hand began to touch her cheek softly. "Speechless?"

But before she could do anything, a hand came out of nowhere gripping onto Seifer's wrist. "Don't touch her."

That familiar voice! She quickly turned to see an annoyed Sora glaring at the boy in front of her. Seifer laughed and took his grip away from Sora's. "Chill out." He said giving Sora a smile and waved to Kairi. "I'll see you around Kai."

The redhead nervously glanced over at Sora who already began walking away. "Sora wait!"

She ran to catch up to him. "Sora…" He was still ignoring her. She grabbed his arm to stop him. "Sora just listen-"

"Why don't you go with Seifer? You seem to be good friends with him." He responded bitterly as he got out of her grasp and walked ahead of her.

Kairi stood frozen to her spot at the answer she was given. Sora, had never acted like that towards her before. In fact, she couldn't figure out why he was irritated about this. Back at home, Riku acted similar to Seifer with those lame pick up lines, and Sora never got mad. But now…he was just being weird…

……

"Hey I'm back!" Namine announced once she stepped into the room.

Kairi gazed up for a moment to acknowledge her presence before looking back down at her homework.

The blond knew that something was up, but she had to take this slowly. Casually putting her shoes away, she walked over to the table and sat next to her friend. "Working on homework already?"

"Ha, you're starting to sound like my mother." She answered sarcastically. "Yeah, almost all of my teachers decided to give us homework even if it "is" the first day of school," she sighed tiredly. "But how about the others?"

Namine took out her reading book, flipping through the pages to where she left off. She obviously didn't have homework, or she either already finished it. "Well it was just Roxas, Hayner, Olette, and Pence. Sora didn't come because he was mumbling something about how he was really exhausted. Would you happen to know what's up with his attitude?"

Kairi hesitated to answer. "No, I didn't notice," she lied as silence grew between the two. She felt bad having to keep this from her own best friend, but it wasn't "that" big of a deal anyways. "Hey Namine?"

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering. You live in a mansion not too far away from the school, so why are you staying in a dormitory?"

The blond stopped reading.

"I-I mean, I'm not trying to say that I don't like you around, but wouldn't you rather be in your room, have more freedom around the mansion and all?"

"I like it here." Namine stated as she shut the book. "Besides, wouldn't you rather be with your friends than stay at home with your parents?"

"Well, yeah that's true…" Kairi admitted now that she had put some thought into it. "But I mean my house or hut place compared to your mansion is living the life of luxury, big bedrooms, comfy beds, entertainment, all the-"

"Yeah, I'm going to bed, night."

"Night then, see you in the morning."

Namine pulled the covers over her and sighed tiredly. Luckily, Kairi didn't notice her being all tense talking about her house. She hated coming over to the "White Mansion" that everyone spoke so highly about. Most of all, it was her parents.

* * *

_**A/N: I know it took "forever" to finally update, and I apologize for the long wait. I hoped you enjoyed this long chapter. :D Thanks to my Chapter 1 reviewers!: **_

_**ATOMIC ORANGE:** Wow, yes I did do a sequel, but has it really been THAT long? O.o Wow, I didn't realize!, **Ramen and Chopsticks: **Yep, I agree, **First Day High: **Yes yes it's the continuation, **Pokkin Choco: **O.o even worse! Did you just read this chapter?! I know!, **Automatic Code Red 123: **Haha, I have to admit, I could imagine that too. Hm...wouldn't be surprised if he called him that in the actual game, **Gogglelicious: **Yep, **Pandapple: **Yep, **Kazumi Kairi or Kairi-chan: **Uh oh, looks like the trouble already took its toll..., **Somebody's Dreamer: **Hooray! :D, **roxas-kh: **I'm excited about the plot too, sorry, I didn't exactly update "soon", **Jedexa: **Well this is the only sequel I'm continuing, :D, **Harukachan!XD: **I updated! I updated!_


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